Friday, April 7, 2023 // Good Friday

QOD:  Love that stammers, that stutters, is apt to be the love that loves best.  ~  Gabriela Mistral (née Lucila de María del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga; Apr. 7, 1889 ~ Jan. 10, 1957), Chilian poet, educator and humanist

Thursday, April 6, 2023

QOD:  There is no story of brutality that has not been retold as one of heroism.  ~  Joni Murphy, American novelist

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

QOD:  Work is the least disappointing relationship you can have.  ~  Bette Davis (née Ruth Elizabeth Davis, Apr. 5, 1908 ~ Oct. 6, 1989), American actress

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

QOD:  A book read by a thousand different people is a thousand different books.  ~  Andrei Tarkovsky (Apr. 4, 1932 ~ Dec. 29, 1986), Russian filmmaker

All Sales are Final.

I'll start with the unifier today:

56-Across. Going-out-of-business bargain event, and an apt description of this puzzle's circles: CLOSING SALE.  Notice how there are fewer and fewer letters in-between the SA-LE as we progress down the grid.  Crazy Eddie finally closed for good due to SEC violations.  I remember the Crazy Eddie ads from my days in Connecticut.

20-Across. Muppet with blue feathers and a black unibrow: SAM THE EAGLE.  7 letters.

34-Across. Ceramic piece in a kitchen backsplash, say: MOSAIC TILE.  3 letters.  Some of the most magnificent mosaic tiles can be seen at the Piazza Armerina in Sicily.  Because the Roman ruins are so remote, they have been well preserved.

40-Across. Laryngeal projection: ADAM'S APPLE.  2 letters.

Here's the grid, so you can see the circled SALE.

Let's not forget this little homophone:

28-Down. Cruise (along): SAIL.

What else is for Sale in today's puzzle?

Across:

1. Lasting mark: SCAR.

5. Hairstyle with upturned ends: FLIP.  A style favored by Mary Tyler Moore.

9. Neckwear worn by Fred in "Scooby-Doo": ASCOT.

14. Worker's compensation: WAGE.

15. More than fix up: REDO.

16. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" spinoff: RHODA.  [Name # 1.]  //  And 41-Down. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and 16-Across, e.g.: SIT-COMS.

17. "Words fail me!": I CAN'T EVEN.

19. Mexican title: SEÑOR.  Today's Spanish lesson.  Hi, Lucina!

22. __-la-la: TRA.

23. Flower bed tool: HOE.

24. Poems that may begin "For a ... ": ODEs.  A crossword staple.  An Ode could also be musical.

25. __ before: deadline words: ON OR.  I have to finish the blog commentary on or before 3:30 a.m. each Tuesday.

27. "No seats" sign: SRO.  As in Standing Room Only.

28. Access ticket at a snowy resort: SKI PASS.

31. Farm mom: MARE.

37. Burn soother: ALOE.  A crossword staple.  So is this cartoon.

38. "Parlez-vous français?" reply: OUI.  Today's French lesson.  The alternative answer could have been NON.

39. Cabbage dish: SLAW.  Why is it called Coleslaw?  Yummers!

44. Belief systems: -ISMS.  Think Theism, or deism, or as Waseeley gave us last Thursday, there is Darwinism.

45. Fill-in-the-blanks diversion: MAD LIBs.

46. Dudes: MEN.

48. Memory unit: BYTE. Computer memory.

49. Naval lockup: BRIG.  Origin of the meaning of Brig as a naval prison.

51. Journalist Koppel: TED.  Ted Koppel (né Edward James Martin Koppel; b. Feb. 8, 1940) is a British-born American journalist.  He is probably best known for hosting Nightline.  [Name # 2.]

54. Good friend: PAL.

59. Vinegary stew of Filipino cuisine: ADOBO.  Apparently, countries all over the world have a variation of Adobo.

61. Zoom call, say: VIDEO CHAT.

62. "Attack!": SIC 'EM.

63. Genesis garden: EDEN.  Another crossword staple.

64. Reusable bag: TOTE.

65. Lifts: TAKES.

66. Home made of sticks: NEST.

67. Zig or zag: VEER.

Down:

1. Sound of a clean jump shot: SWISH.

2. Crème de __: sweet liqueur: CACAO.  Everything you wanted to know about Crème de Cacao but didn't know to ask.

3. Athlete's best effort: A-GAME.

4. Tenant's monthly expense: RENT.  Also the name of a Broadway musical.

5. Liberty: FREEDOM.

6. Structure with high-water marks: LEVEE.

Aerial view of the Levee in Baton Rouge.

7. "Any more bright __?": IDEAS.

8. Early Atari release: PONG.  Pong was first released over 50 years ago!

9. "__ and Old Lace": ARSENIC.  Arsenic and Old Lace is a 1939 play, later made into a movie, about two old women who begin murdering lonely old men by poisoning them.

10. That woman: SHE.

11. Air lines?: CONTRAILS.  Everything you wanted to know about Contrails but didn't know to ask.

12. Skunkiness: ODOR.

13. Stanford basketball coach VanDerveer: TARA.  Tara Ann VanDerveer (b. June 26, 1953) has been the head women's basketball coach at Stanford since 1985.  [Name # 3.]

18. God of Thunder: THOR.  Norse mythology.  [Name # 4.]  //  And 21-Down. God of Mischief: LOKI. [Name # 5.]  More Norse mythology.

26. Chooses to join: OPTS IN.

27. Appropriate: SEEMLY.

29. Grand __: bases-loaded homer: SLAM.

30. Fixes with thread: SEWS.

31. Hat-tipping word: MA'AM.

32. Actor Alan honored with a SAG Life Achievement Award in 2019: ALDA.  Alan Alda (né Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; b. Jan. 28, 1936) is probablybest known for his portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce on  M*A*S*H.  [Name # 6.]

33. Highway barricade: ROAD BLOCK.

A major road block.

35. "Clumsy me!": OOPS!

36. Slangy greeting: 'SUP.  This slangy greeting has made many appearances in the puzzles recently.

42. Cain's brother: ABEL.  A Biblical reference.  Cain, who was a farmer, slew his brother, Abel.  (See Genesis 4:8).  [Name # 7.]

43. Prestigious: EMINENT.

47. Waffle-maker: EGGO.

49. Less-played song, usually: B-SIDE.  A list of B-Side songs that became hits.

50. Harley outings: RIDES.

51. Chevrolet SUV model: TAHOE.  I've heard there is also a lake with this name on the border of California and Nevada.

52. Fill with joy: ELATE.

53. Turn aside: DETER.

54. Historian's field: PAST.

55. Sarah McLachlan ballad: ADIA.  Not to be confused with Aida, which is both an opera and a Broadway musical.   [Name # 8.]

57. Pizza cooker: OVEN.

58. "SNL"-like show filmed in Canada: SCTV.  As in Second City TeleVision.

60. Spelling contest: BEE.

That's all for this week.

חתולה

Monday, April 3, 2023

QOD:  Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right.  ~  Dame Jane Goodall (née Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall; b. Apr. 3, 1934), English primatologist and anthropologist

Sunday, April 2, 2023

QOD:  Truth uttered before its time is always dangerous.  ~  Mencius (Apr. 2, 372 BCE ~  289 BCE), Chinese Confucian philosopher